Reissued for the first time in over thirty years, The American Gun Mystery is among the most beloved of the early Ellery Queen novels, renowned to this day as exemplary works of the American Golden Age mystery.

By the time he uncovers all the necessary clues and delivers his patented “Challenge to the Reader,” Queen (and his most careful readers) will be able to expose both the killer and the hiding place of the weapon-the titular American Gun that fired the fatal bullet. Unluckily for the murderer, genius sleuth Ellery Queen is among the thousands that witnessed the crime, and he won’t be satisfied until he cuts through the confusion to discover the truth of the execution. Who among them is cunning enough to have constructed such a baffling murder scene? But when the ensuing investigation fails to turn up any evidence, even after the newsreels made in the moment are reviewed, the net of suspicion widens across the troupe of performers and the circus staff. When a washed up Hollywood cowboy-turned-circus rodeo actor is shot dead in the midst of his performance at a New York sports-palace, in front of thousands of onlookers, it seems obvious that someone would have seen the perpetrator of the crime-or at the very least, recovered the gun. Give this one a look if you can.Ellery Queen investigates a murder at the circus rodeo It was the charm of their characters and they way they played off one another. It shows why the Thin Man series worked so well. Queen is a bit too much for my tastes, but, then, this was another time and another place. Still the plot is entertaining and fast moving and isn't as stilted and sappy than many of its genre. There's lots of comedy, including a fainting hotel manager (who actually detracts from the affairs at hand.

There is a little crime solving of the CSI variety built in. Anyway the young Queen, who is irreverent and extremely amorous, condescends to enter the case because he has designs on the leading lady, a feisty thing who doesn't seem to be affected by much of anything, including a corpse. They couldn't find their way out of a shoebox. It has that thirties silliness where all the police are a bunch of snarly knuckleheads.

A murder is committed and the victim doesn't seem to fit the situation. Using the Ellery Queen characters, this little yarn spins a tale of a stolen stamp of great value.

The Hollywood Murders by Ellery Queen